Page 51 of The Hellion and the Captain
“Drive us all to your house and I’ll walk her from there,”he said gruffly, and Colin shrugged before telling the driver to carry on.
“We’ll stop for Minnie first,” Lily said. “She lives near here.”
“I’m not sure that we have met,” Minnie said, leaning forward, and Emmaline observed Rhys carefully to see how he would react to her. She had sensed his gaze upon them all night, but she had no idea if that had anything to do with Minnie or if he was watching to see how well she kept up her disguise.
“Rhys Lockwood,” he said curtly before taking a seat on the squab on the other side of Emmaline so that she was in the middle between Minnie and Rhys. It was a tight squeeze, and she found herself pressed up against his side. He shifted his arm over her shoulders to make room, and she settled back into him, not missing the curious glances from Lily and Colin across the way.
“Do you think everyone bought the story?” Emmaline asked, cutting through the silence.
“No,” Rhys said, and Emmaline started in surprise.
“Why do you say that?”
“Tommy asked me why you didn’t care that he was cutting in on your girl,” Rhys said. “You weren’t exactly selling that you cared if another man flirted with Minnie.”
“I wasn’t entirely sure what to do,” Emmaline said before glancing over at Minnie, who had bowed her head, and Emmaline sensed that if it was lighter in the carriage, she would notice her cheeks were pink. “I didn’t want to act the jealous sort.”
“I’m sorry,” Minnie said softly. “I shouldn’t have encouraged him.”
“Not your fault, Min,” Emmaline said, reaching over to pat her knee. “You did very well considering the story we had fabricated.”
“What would you do if someone was flirting with your man?” Lily asked from across the carriage.
“I’ve never had that problem.”
“But if you did?”
“Well, I suppose I would tell her exactly what she could do with her flirtations,” Emmaline said, thinking of what she would do if Rhys was hers and another woman tried to capture his attention.
“Then that is what you must do as a man!” Lily said. “Next time.”
“Next time,” Emmaline murmured. “It seemed that this escapade both brought attention upon us but took some off as everyone was staring at Minnie instead of me.”
“Oh, I do not think that is true,” Minnie said, as humble as ever, but Emmaline and Lily laughed.
“Men always look at you, Min. It’s just the way it is,” Lily said. “Your beauty is something talked about all over Manchester.”
“I wish you wouldn’t say that,” Minnie said.
“I would like to know what you thought of Tommy,” Emmaline said. “If you are interested, then I should step out of the way early.”
“He was fun to flirt with, but it doesn’t seem as though he would ever take anything seriously,” Minnie said, and Colin snorted.
“There is much truth to that,” Colin said, “but I’ve known Tommy since we were children. He has one of the purest hearts of anyone I’ve ever met.”
“He is a good sort,” Lily said. “He’s been there for us – and for Colin – through everything in his life. In fact, if it weren’t for Tommy, Colin wouldn’t be playing for Manchester Central.”
“He did put in a good word for you, Colin,” Rhys agreed. “Although I had to tell him tonight exactly what I thought of stepping in on a teammate.”
“Did you really?” Emmaline asked, delighted and wishing she could have been present for such a conversation.
“Poor Tommy,” Colin said, shaking his head. “He means well.”
Rhys’s expression turned incredulous. “Means well? He was going after another teammate’s woman. I had to set him straight.”
“Did he feel awful afterward?” Colin said, a touch of concern in his tone.
“He did.”
